I'll repeat what I said before about Chicago's tournament: we'd like to hold it at Chicago on March 3rd, with mirrors that date or later in March depending on Spring breaks.

Marshall I. Steinbaum

Oxford University (2002-2005)University of Chicago (2008-2014)

"Smart young whippersnapper"--Brad DeLong

FBI agents have established that the Watergate bugging incident stemmed from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage on behalf of President Nixon's reelection and directed by officials of the White House and the Committee for the Re-Election of the President.--The Washington Post, October 10th, 1972

Penn Bowl will happen. I will appeal to the community to decide the best day.

Eric Mukherjee Brown University '09Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania '17

"The accumulated filth of all their stupidity and irrationality will foam up about their waists and all the Jehovah’s witnesses refusing blood transfusions, drug-seekers, creationists, new agers, anti-vaccination nutjobs, scientologists, and AIDS deniers will look up and shout ‘save us!’…and I’ll look down, and whisper ‘no’” –Rorschach MD

The Quest for the Historical Mukherjesus wrote:Penn Bowl will happen. I will appeal to the community to decide the best day.

It looks like there's two-week blocs from 1/21 to 1/28, 3/10 to 3/24, and between ICT and Nats. Though I'd prefer the first spot, you may have to fight it out with Terrapin for that one, and if that doesn't work, either fight it out with IO for the middle-March spot or settle into the inter-National spot.

Eric Mukherjee Brown University '09Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania '17

"The accumulated filth of all their stupidity and irrationality will foam up about their waists and all the Jehovah’s witnesses refusing blood transfusions, drug-seekers, creationists, new agers, anti-vaccination nutjobs, scientologists, and AIDS deniers will look up and shout ‘save us!’…and I’ll look down, and whisper ‘no’” –Rorschach MD

I would like to claim the last two weekends of January for GAAP (Generally Accepted Academic Principles), a new tournament written by members of the Illinois Academic Buzzer Team. This will be an easier tournament along the lines of MUT and Delta Burke from the past couple of years. This tournament will be available for late mirrors, such as CCs seeking to mirror the tournament on 2/4 because of a potential conflict with the CC SCT on 1/21.

Charles Martin Jr.University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignAcademic Buzzer Team | PresidentB.S. in Accountancy, August 2011B.S. in Finance, August 2011MAS Program, Class of 2012

GAAP, Penn Bowl, and Terrapin should probably figure out how to properly avoid bumping into one another, especially given that the first half of January is difficult to attend due to nearly-universal winter breaks. With the number of events going up, it seems like some event may have to work its way into the two to four weeks between ICT and ACF Nationals if all of them are determined to go forward.

RyuAqua wrote:GAAP, Penn Bowl, and Terrapin should probably figure out how to properly avoid bumping into one another, especially given that the first half of January is difficult to attend due to nearly-universal winter breaks. With the number of events going up, it seems like some event may have to work its way into the two to four weeks between ICT and ACF Nationals if all of them are determined to go forward.

I would like to see GAAP occupy the last two weeks of January for a couple of reasons: 1) It's an easier tournament, so people aren't starting by playing regular difficulty right off the bat; and 2) I'd like there to be some distance between GAAP and MUT, since they will likely be around the same difficulty, a difficulty which will be easier than most of the rest of the tournaments during the spring semester.

Charles Martin Jr.University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignAcademic Buzzer Team | PresidentB.S. in Accountancy, August 2011B.S. in Finance, August 2011MAS Program, Class of 2012

Papa's in the House wrote:I would like to see GAAP occupy the last two weeks of January for a couple of reasons: 1) It's an easier tournament, so people aren't starting by playing regular difficulty right off the bat; and 2) I'd like there to be some distance between GAAP and MUT, since they will likely be around the same difficulty, a difficulty which will be easier than most of the rest of the tournaments during the spring semester.

I understand why you want this spot. You should still ensure that your claim of it is okay with Terrapin and Penn Bowl, who bothannounced their existence for the upcoming year earlier than GAAP and have previously occupied January spots for years. The reality is that there just isn't enough room for all these tournaments in the spring semester anymore. Regardless, we want to make the schedule work as best it can, so we have to actually talk to each other about the best place for things, and whether an entirely new tournament of uncertain quality ought to displace two tournaments that have existed for decades, for that to happen.

One thing you might consider for GAAP (or MUT, I guess, I'm sort of talking to both people) is to run it as a tournament late in the semester or even in the early summer. I've noticed that novices tend to peter out as the semester goes on--partly because of business, but also because beginning around April, there are no tournaments for them to play. Thus, a number of new players stop coming to practice or being invested in the club because they aren't going to be playing anything until next fall. It might be interesting to see if a post Nats or May tournament would work or be feasible.

Mike Cheyne"He has a PhD in SUBURBAN STUDIES!"--Marshall SteinbaumFormerly at University of MinnesotaHSAPQ Vice-President of Talent Relations

One thing you might consider for GAAP (or MUT, I guess, I'm sort of talking to both people) is to run it as a tournament late in the semester or even in the early summer. I've noticed that novices tend to peter out as the semester goes on--partly because of business, but also because beginning around April, there are no tournaments for them to play. Thus, a number of new players stop coming to practice or being invested in the club because they aren't going to be playing anything until next fall. It might be interesting to see if a post Nats or May tournament would work or be feasible.

This is a good idea. Chicago's very short-lived novice tournament was run in early May and had a decent turnout both years we ran it (Maryland's DSHIT, also a novice tournament, ran in that slot previously), and I think a postseason novice/lower-level event can be a really nice thing for the circuit for the reasons Mike described.

I also agree. At the end of April this year, after both nationals, I ran an MUT mirror that was as well attended as any local tournament could ask for, getting plenty of teams from local staples on the circuit, in addition to appearances from a few teams that were not very active this year (Kansas State, Oklahoma, Missouri Valley). I felt like this set went over very well because our local circuit has a lot of players who are squarely in its audience, but who didn't get the chance to play anything particularly easy after ICT D2 if they even went to that, and who wanted to get one last chance to play something that was more accessible than the usual while also killing a little time to hang out with their team at the end of the year right before finals. That was my read on the vibe at the tournament mostly, and I felt like it was beneficial for keeping novices more involved throughout the year and just generally helped out our circuit, so I would definitely recommend a tournament like GAAP or MUT for the end of the year and see if other circuits are interested in a late season chance for younger players to blow off some steam and have a more fun end to the season.

Charlie Dees, North Kansas City HS '08"I won't say more because I know some of you parse everything I say." - Jeremy Gibbs

"At one TJ tournament the neg prize was the Hampshire College ultimate frisbee team (nude) calender featuring one Evan Silberman. In retrospect that could have been a disaster." - Harry White

College Park Spyders wrote:I also agree. At the end of April this year, after both nationals, I ran an MUT mirror that was as well attended as any local tournament could ask for, getting plenty of teams from local staples on the circuit, in addition to appearances from a few teams that were not very active this year (Kansas State, Oklahoma, Missouri Valley). I felt like this set went over very well because our local circuit has a lot of players who are squarely in its audience, but who didn't get the chance to play anything particularly easy after ICT D2 if they even went to that, and who wanted to get one last chance to play something that was more accessible than the usual while also killing a little time to hang out with their team at the end of the year right before finals. That was my read on the vibe at the tournament mostly, and I felt like it was beneficial for keeping novices more involved throughout the year and just generally helped out our circuit, so I would definitely recommend a tournament like GAAP or MUT for the end of the year and see if other circuits are interested in a late season chance for younger players to blow off some steam and have a more fun end to the season.

I'll join the chorus promoting GAAP later in the semester. In addition to what everyone has already said, the time slots in December, January, and February are usually the best general-interest slots that we have for regular tournaments.

MUT could really go anywhere in March, April, or early May. I like the idea of having it be after both ICT and ACF Nats to give players a reason to keep coming to practices; somewhere in the range of 4/28-5/12.

So, we should actually set a spring schedule which attempts to resolve some of the following questions. Is Penn Bowl happening in January after BARGE or at some other time? Are SCT and Regionals indeed set in stone for February 4th and 18th; if so, is there confirmation from ACF about packet writing for Regionals for that date? Is the Chicago hard tournament still happening? If so, when? Is the rumored MUT/GAAP merger actually occurring? If so, when? Must TIT be moved to the spring? If so, to when? What weekends are we attempting to leave free? Does anyone actually care about setting any of this so that teams can effectively plan out their packet writing, travel plans, and/or high school tournament hosting?

To answer Matt's question, yes the Chicago hard tournament is still happening as scheduled.

Marshall I. Steinbaum

Oxford University (2002-2005)University of Chicago (2008-2014)

"Smart young whippersnapper"--Brad DeLong

FBI agents have established that the Watergate bugging incident stemmed from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage on behalf of President Nixon's reelection and directed by officials of the White House and the Committee for the Re-Election of the President.--The Washington Post, October 10th, 1972

RyuAqua wrote:Is Penn Bowl happening in January after BARGE or at some other time? ... Does anyone actually care about setting any of this so that teams can effectively plan out their packet writing, travel plans, and/or high school tournament hosting?

I'm just going to throw this one out there again. Any word on Penn Bowl yet?

Mark BognerDewitt High School 2004-2008Michigan State University 2008-2012

RyuAqua wrote:Is Penn Bowl happening in January after BARGE or at some other time? ... Does anyone actually care about setting any of this so that teams can effectively plan out their packet writing, travel plans, and/or high school tournament hosting?

I'm just going to throw this one out there again. Any word on Penn Bowl yet?

I think Eric once mentioned that he planned to have it done for January (we've started writing stuff). No clue on specifics though.

RyuAqua wrote:Is Penn Bowl happening in January after BARGE or at some other time? ... Does anyone actually care about setting any of this so that teams can effectively plan out their packet writing, travel plans, and/or high school tournament hosting?

I'm just going to throw this one out there again. Any word on Penn Bowl yet?

I think Eric once mentioned that he planned to have it done for January (we've started writing stuff). No clue on specifics though.

RyuAqua wrote:Is Penn Bowl happening in January after BARGE or at some other time? ... Does anyone actually care about setting any of this so that teams can effectively plan out their packet writing, travel plans, and/or high school tournament hosting?

I'm just going to throw this one out there again. Any word on Penn Bowl yet?

I think Eric once mentioned that he planned to have it done for January (we've started writing stuff). No clue on specifics though.

Are you not going to be asking for packets?

I'm pretty sure we will be. I'm not the one to ask though, so don't quote me on it. All I know is that it's supposed to happen and at least some editors packets are being written.